The Dingles are one of the best loved soap families in history, and certainly in Emmerdale.

They have had some major bust-ups over their years in the Dales but are also always there to show their support, and some have even got closer than one might expect for cousins (ahem Charity and Cain.)

But who are the Dingles, how are they all connected and who should be look out for?

Here is everything you need to know about who are siblings, cousins, best friends and above all, who owns the Emmerdale beacon of social activity: The Woolpack.

Let's start with the best known patriarchs of the family.

Zak Dingle

Zak and Lisa Dingle

All biblically named, Zak Dingle is the remaining patriarch living in the village. He is the son of Jedediah and Peg Dingle, the latter of who we met briefly in 2002 when Jed's death is revealed.

While he is no longer the head of the fmaily, declaring Cain to be the head in 2015, he still is a strong presence in the village.

She and her son, Zak, are not particularly close, but they hatched a plan for Peg to go back and live with her nephew, Elvis, by faking her death and putting her living body in a coffin.

Zak has five siblings: Albert, Caleb, Ezra, Shadrach and Zebediah. He also has a cousin called Obadiah, to whom we shall return later.

He was first married to Nellie, with whom he had five children: Nathan, Butch, Ben, Sam and Tina.

Faith Dingle, one of the main matriarchs (Image: ITV)

She left to care for her sick dad in Ireland, after which Zak divorced her, but she briefly returned to the village when Butch died in a bus crash in 2000, before returning to Ireland.

But during this time, Zak had an affair with his brother Shadrach's wife, Faith, and they conceived Cain.

Zak's second wife, Lisa, gave him his youngest child, Belle.

Her drink was spiked earlier this year by Liv Flaherty and she had a long recovery, as she struggled to deal with her feelings for Zak, and she left the village earlier this year.

Of Zak's children, Ben was killed in a fight with Luke McAllister, the local doctor's son, and Butch died in a bus crash, while Nathan has merely been mentioned, never appearing on screen.

He also cared for his brother Caleb's daughter, Mandy, played by Lisa Riley, when she arrives on the scene having been disowned by her parents.

Shadrach Dingle

Shadrach Dingle (Image: ITV)

Shadrach appeared in the show for ten years, from 2000 until 2010, when his character died from drowning, having spent years as a very heavy drinker.

He was married to Faith and they had baby Chastity, though she was secretly having an affair with his brother, Zak, making her the mother of Cain as well.

However, Shadrach was no angel, and had an affair with Shirley Pascoe, bearing him another daughter, Genesis Walker.

She sadly died at the hands of killer Cameron Murray, but Chas is still going strong, currently the co-landlady of The Woolpack.

Albert Dingle

Albert Dingle (Image: REX/Shutterstock)

Albert, the eldest of Jedediah and Peg's children, only appeared in the show for a few years, but is best known for being a criminal who was set to married Lisa, until Zak swooped in and married her instead.

He married Delilah, and they had two children, Marlon and Eli, with Marlon still on the scene, working as the chef at The Woolpack.

The final two of this group is Ezra and Zebediah - the former who arrived late to Belle's christening with his wife, Gwen, while the other is head of the 'Southampton Dingles' and are sometimes mentioned in passing.

Obadiah Dingle

(Image: ITV)

The cousin of Zak, Obadiah is best known for being the father of troubled Charity Dingle.

He is son of Jedediah's brother, Bert, and his wife Jessie.

Obadiah also had two brothers, Elvis and Solomon, the former of whom looked after Peg Dingle in her old age.

Solomon, on the other hand, was a rival of Zak's, having also tried to gain the headship of the family, and serving in prison alongside Sam, Zak's son.

Obadiah's wife, Kathleen, killed herself when her daughter was young, but Obadiah, being strongly religious and believing this act to be a sin, told the family she had died of cancer.

Cain Dingle

Cain Dingle (Image: ITV)

In the next generation of Dingles, Cain is the head of the family.

He and his second cousin, Charity, had a brief relationship when they were teenagers, leading to her becoming pregnant with Cain's first child, Debbie.

Cain also has two other children, Kyle and Isaac, the first of whom was born to Amy Wyatt, a foster child who briefly came to the village and lived with Eric and Val Pollard.

Isaac is the son of Cain and his wife, Moira, and they live with son Kyle at Butlers Farm.

Charity Dingle

Charity Dingle (Image: ITV)

Charity, who has been mentioned already and is one of the best loved characters on the soap, is co-owner of The Woolpack with her second cousin Chastity.

She gave birth to Cain's daughter, Debbie, at just 13, after which she was raped by the evil DI Bails, leading her to conceive Ryan Stocks, her second child, who was adopted after Charity believed him to be dead

Charity has been married to Chris Tate, Jai Sharma and Declan Macey, the first of whom being the father of her teenage son Noah.

Chris poisoned himself to frame Charity for his murder, but she escaped this, though ended up in prison later on during her relationship with Declan.

She gave birth in prison to Moses, her youngest, who was the product of a one night stand with Ross Barton.

Currently, Charity is in a relationship with local vet Vanessa Woodfield.

Chas Dingle

Chas Dingle (Image: ITV)

Chastity, known as Chas, is the landlady of The Woolpack with her second cousin Charity.

She was raised alongside Cain, believing he was her full brother, only for it to later be revealed that Zak was his real father.

Chas gave birth to Aaron in 1992, who was the son of her first husband, Gordon Livesy though her pregnancy came about after the pair had a teenage fling.

She left Aaron to live with Gordon after their divorce, not knowing that he was sexually abusing and raping their son repeatedly.

Marlon Dingle

Marlon Dingle (Image: ITV)

One of the best loved and longest serving members of the Emmerdale cast, Marlon has been pretty busy in the love department during his time in the village, leading him to have two children and three wives.

His first wife, Tricia Fisher, sadly died after he spent a long time trying to woo her, but during their marriage he found time to have a drunken one night stand with his second cousin, Charity.

He got married again to Donna Windsor, and they had little April, who is an absolute firecracker.

A lot went on within their marriage, which included Marlon getting shot by his brother Eli in a robbery gone wrong, Don a having an affair with Ross Barton and Marlon snogging his second cousin Chas in a drunken moment.

Rhona Godkirk, his former love, returned to the village, and the pair struck up their relationship, leading Rhona to become pregnant with Leo, Marlon's second child.

He is now seeing the secondary school headteacher, Jessie.

Sam Dingle

Sam Dingle (Image: TV Grab)

Zak's son Sam has only one son, Samson, who was the child of him and his only wife Alice Wilson.

Alice sadly had cancer, fundraising to try and help local charities to assist others with the same condition, but things ended when Sam helped Alice to die by overdosing her on morphine.

The Dingles stood by him, with all of them confessing to her death in order to save Sam and stop him from heading to prison for the murder.

But otherwise, he is one of the quieter Dingles all in all!

Belle Dingle

Belle Dingle (Image: ITV)

Belle was born in a pigsty to her mum, Lisa, and is the youngest of Zak's children by a very long way.

While she has no kids of her own, she has had some notable relationships with Sean Spencer, and Lachlan White, the serial killer who murders a number of her friends, evenr trying to kill Sam.

But Belle was herself put in prison for murder, but only had one year in prison after appeal, following which she shows signs of her schizophrenia, which becomes a key element of her sturggles.

Debbie Dingle

Debbie Dingle

And on to the next generation.

Debbie, who was born to teenage mum Charity and Cain, but was fostered by Paddy and Emily Kirk, before it was revealed that she was a Dingle.

Similarly to her mum, she got pregnant at 15, giving birth to Sarah Sugden, and later to Jack.

She has also had relationships with Ross and Pete Barton, as well as young Jasmine Thomas and Scott Windsor.

But her most recent relationship is with Joe Tate, the half brother of Charity's son, Noah, meaning the lines are close to crossing in an awkward way.

But Debbie's also crossed the streams a bit when she dated Eli Dingle, Marlon's brother and therefore her second cousin.